Control unit and method for delivering messages

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a control unit for message delivery in a communications network, the control unit including a mechanism for receiving information relating to predetermined metering data associated with successful message delivery, a mechanism for conveying the information relating to predetermined metering data associated with successful message delivery to a metering data analyzing system of the communications network, and a mechanism for receiving message delivery information from the communications network.

FIELD

The invention relates to a control unit and a method for deliveringmessages in a communications network.

BACKGROUND

Mobile marketing and advertising are considered as a channel to reachconsumers by utilizing assets and characteristics of mobile media,namely individuality and attainability.

Today's mobile marketing is mostly based on push campaigns or pullcampaigns that acquire consumers' mobile phone numbers.

An example of a push campaign is a short message service (SMS) campaignwhere an advertisement is sent to a group of consumers using SMS.

An example of a pull campaign is a “text-to-win” campaign, wherein anarticle contains a code which a consumer may send to a telephone numberused for the campaign and, as a return, he or she receives anotification of a possible price. Furthermore, the consumer receivesmarketing messages.

However, today's mobile marketing and advertising systems are stillquite undeveloped. Several deficiencies exit: for example, real-timeinvoices to advertisers are impossible to obtain or this is difficultand/or expensive to implement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method fordelivering messages in a communications network, the method comprisingreceiving information relating to predetermined metering data associatedwith successful message delivery; conveying the information relating topredetermined metering data associated with successful message deliveryto a metering data analyzing system of the communications network; andreceiving message delivery information from the communications network.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided acontrol unit for message delivery in a communications network, thecontrol unit comprising: means for receiving information relating topredetermined metering data associated with successful message delivery;means for conveying the information relating to predetermined meteringdata associated with successful message delivery to a metering dataanalyzing system of the communications network; and means for receivingmessage delivery information from the communications network.

The invention provides several advantages.

An embodiment of the invention provides a possibility to obtainreal-time invoices utilizing billing systems of a communicationsnetwork. This approach produces invoicing and/or delivery information inthe network where the events to be charged are generated, thus makinginvoicing less complicated and expensive than in prior art systems.

LIST OF DRAWINGS

In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail withreference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 shows an example of a communications network;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an arrangement according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a control unit; and

FIG. 4 is a flow chart.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Message delivery according to embodiments of the invention is typicallycarried out in a communications network. Some examples of thecommunications networks are a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System(UMTS) radio access network (UTRAN), Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM) and its modifications, Wireless Local Area Network(WLAN), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX),Bluetooth®, Personal Communications Services (PCS) and systems usingultra-wideband (UWB) technology.

A variety of message types can be used in embodiments of the invention:the messages may be Short Message Service (SMS) messages, multimediamessages (such as Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS) messages),Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) messages, WAP-push messages,messages in a broadcasting format (examples of such formats are DigitalVideo Broadcasting for Handheld devices (DVB-H), Integrated ServicesDigital Broadcasting (ISDB), Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB)) andmessages conveyed via the Internet, etc.

FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of a system to which embodimentsaccording to the invention are applicable. The system of FIG. 1 ispresented as a clarifying example. It is obvious to a person skilled inthe art that the embodiments of the invention may be applied todifferent kinds of systems.

FIG. 1 shows a part of a WCDMA (Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access)communications network. The WCDMA network is taken herein as an exampleof a communications network providing mobility.

The WCDMA communications network is a cellular radio system whichcomprises a base station 100, which has bi-directional radio links 102,104 to user devices 106, 108. A user device may be a mobile phone, alaptop or a multimedia device, for instance.

The base station is connected to a radio network controller (or node B)108 which in turn has a connection to a core network 110. The corenetwork of the example includes a postpaid/prepaid billing system 112.Post-paid/prepaid systems are known in the prior art and they are notexplained herein.

In this example, the base station and the radio network controller formcellular infrastructure of FIG. 2.

In the following, an example of a system for delivering messages, suchas advertisements and other chargeable messages, is explained in furtherdetail by the means of FIG. 2. An advertising campaign is used as anexample, but embodiments of the example are not restricted thereto, butthe invention may be used to deliver several kinds of informationmessages, such as invitations to a party, an appointment or a meeting.

It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that campaign messages maybe delivered to several communications systems, not only one. Onecommunications system is depicted in FIG. 2 only for the sake ofclarity.

In the example of FIG. 2, an advertiser 200 orders a marketing campaign,where advertisements are delivered to consumers' user devices, such asmobile phones or multimedia devices. An advertiser may be a person, agroup of persons, a company, a civil service department, etc.

Campaign material (including texts, images, sounds videos, hypertextmarkup language (html), tags, links, etc.) is typically designed by anadvertising agency. The advertising campaign material may be amultimedia message, a video, a text message, etc. The advertisertypically defines a target group for the campaign.

A delivery plan (target consumers, delivery time, location, etc.) ismade on the basis of information on occupiers of subscriber connections,which is typically collected when connection means, such as SubscriberIdentity Module (SIM) cards, are handed out to the occupiers. Theinformation may include age, sex, residence, hobbies, taste in music,occupation, etc. The information is collected with approvals of theoccupiers, typically by using a questionnaire. The information may becombined to form consumer profiles.

The use of consumer profiles while making delivery plans provides meansfor aiming campaigns more precisely at consumers presumed to beinterested in commodities in question.

Campaign material may be delivered to all occupiers of subscriberconnections or to some percentage thereof. This kind of advertising canbe supposed to be less effective than a campaign focused on a moreprecisely determined group of consumers.

Let us take one example of consumer profiling. A campaign may betargeted at persons of a particular sex, living in a certain area andbelonging to a certain age group. A campaign may advertise concerts.Statistically, women and men like different sort of music, middle-agedpeople like different kind of music than teenagers, etc. The mosteffective campaign would not be to advertise the same concert to alloccupiers of subscriber connections. Instead, consumer profiling maygive a possibility to advertise different concerts to different kinds ofpeople.

Further, the campaign service provider may use selective pricing policyfor campaigns not using profiles and for campaigns using profiles; themore precise the definition of the target group, the more expensive acampaign message. For instance, a concert advertisement targeted atgirls belonging to the age group of 16 to 19 and living in the Londonarea may be more expensive per a message than a concert advertisementcampaign to all occupiers of a subscriber connection in the London area.

The information on occupiers of subscriber connections may be stored ina campaign server 202. The campaign server may further include billinginformation, i.e. agreed expenses of a campaign or the amount of moneypaid for the campaign. The pricing policy may also be stored in thecampaign server. The campaign server may deliver advertisement campaignmaterial directly to a cellular infrastructure 114 to be sent to userdevices according to the delivery plan, or it conveys the material andthe delivery plan to a capacity management unit 204 which thencommunicates with a communications network 206. In both cases, thecampaign server conveys the billing information to the capacitymanagement unit.

The exemplary communications network includes a cellular infrastructure114, one or more user terminals 106, and a core network 110 whichincludes a pre-paid/post-paid billing system 112.

The capacity management unit typically conveys information on credit(billing information), i.e. agreed campaign expenses or the amount ofmoney prepaid to a billing system of the communications network, whichin this example is the pre-paid/post-paid system. The billinginformation and/or pricing policy may be stored in the capacitymanagement unit.

The capacity management unit typically gives the campaign server apermission to start the campaign, if the campaign itself is carried outby the campaign server. The permission may be given after the billingsystem has reported that it has arranged the billing.

If the campaign is carried out by delivering short message service (SMS)messages, the campaign server or capacity management unit sends messagesto a short message center (SMSC), which is a part of the core network(not shown), for delivery to user devices. The user devices confirm thereceipt of messages to the SMSC and the SMSC informs the billing systemon message delivery, typically the number of successfully deliveredmessages.

The SMSC also informs the capacity management unit about the number ofsuccessfully delivered messages. This can be carried out in real-time,in selected time intervals or after the campaign is partially orcompletely over. The capacity management unit conveys the information tothe campaign server from which information on the campaign can be sentto an advertiser providing the advertiser an option to get informationon successfully delivered campaign messages, that is to say, on the realcoverage of the campaign on an event basis.

If pre-paid billing is used, the capacity management unit loads theprepaid sum to a pre-paid system of the communications network. If, onthe other hand, post-paid billing is used, an invoice is sent to theadvertiser on the basis of the information obtained from the campaignserver and/or the capacity management unit.

The billing system is typically the same one as that used by theoperator of the communications network for its own billing. The billingmay also be carried out in a way used by the operator in its billing,for instance subtracting money spent from a pre-paid account.

A campaign server and a capacity management unit may be integrated to beparts of a same unit or they may be separate devices.

An embodiment of the invention typically uses a billing system(prepaid/post-paid) of a communications network. This approach makes itpossible to control the usage of advertisement “time” and collectdelivery reports without separate systems integrated into thecommunications network. Also charging by events (messages received byuser devices) is possible.

In FIG. 3, an example of a control unit for carrying out the messagedelivery described above is depicted.

The control unit is typically a server which may include input/outputinterfaces 300 to receive and transmit information. The server typicallyalso includes or is connected to a memory 302. The core of the server isusually a microprocessor 304. The control unit according to anembodiment of the invention carries out for instance the conveyance ofcampaign expenses or the amount of money prepaid to a billing system ofthe communications network.

Naturally, the control unit may differ from what is depicted in FIG. 3.

Hence, a control unit of the example may include means for receivinginformation relating to predetermined metering data associated withsuccessful message delivery, means for conveying the informationrelating to predetermined metering data associated with successfulmessage delivery to a metering data analyzing system of a communicationsnetwork, and means for receiving message delivery information from thecommunications network.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart depicting an embodiment of a method fordelivering messages in a communications network.

The embodiment starts in block 400.

In block 402, information relating to predetermined metering dataassociated with successful message delivery is received. The informationrelating to metering data may be information on credit (billinginformation), i.e. agreed campaign expenses or the amount of moneyprepaid to a billing system of the communications network.

In block 404, the information relating to predetermined metering dataassociated with successful message delivery is conveyed to a meteringdata analyzing system of the communications network. The metering dataanalyzing system is typically the billing system used by an operator ofthe communications network for its own billing. The billing may also becarried out in a way used by the operator for its billing, for instancesubtracting money spent from a pre-paid account. Thus, no need existsfor a separate billing system for the message delivery described above.

In block 406, message delivery information is received from thecommunications network. Typically, the communications network informs onthe number of successfully delivered messages. This can be carried outin real-time, in selected time intervals, or after the campaign ispartly or completely over.

In one embodiment, message delivery information may be conveyed to anelement producing message delivery reports. The delivery reports mayinclude information on successfully delivered advertising campaignmessages that is to say, on the real coverage of the campaign. Campaignreports inform the orderer of the campaign on how the campaignproceeded.

The method may further include receiving information on a message to bedelivered in a communications network, such as advertising campaignmaterial, and conveying to the communications network the information onthe message to be delivered, such as sending to the communicationsnetwork the advertising campaign material. The method may also includegenerating message delivery reports.

If messages to be delivered are advertisements, advertisement campaignmaterial (material including texts, images, sounds, etc.) is typicallydesigned by an advertising agency. The advertising campaign material maybe a multimedia message, a video, a text message, etc. The advertisertypically defines a target group for the campaign.

A delivery plan (target consumers, delivery time, location, etc.) ismade on the basis of information on occupiers of subscriber connections,which is typically collected when the connection means are handed out tothe occupiers. The information may include age, sex, residence, hobbies,taste in music, occupation, etc. The information is collected withapprovals of the occupiers, typically by using a questionnaire. Theinformation may be combined to form consumer profiles.

The embodiment ends in block 408. The embodiment is repeatable in manyways, for instance for each message delivery campaign.

Embodiments of the invention may be implemented as a computer programcomprising instructions for executing a computer process for deliveringmessages in a communications network.

The computer program may be stored on a computer program distributionmedium readable by a computer or a processor. The computer programmedium may be, for example but not limited to, an electric, magnetic,optical, infrared or semiconductor system, device or transmissionmedium. The computer program medium may include at least one of thefollowing media: a computer readable medium, a program storage medium, arecord medium, a computer readable memory, a random access memory, anerasable programmable read-only memory, a computer readable softwaredistribution package, a computer readable signal, a computer readabletelecommunications signal, computer readable printed matter, and acomputer readable compressed software package.

Even though the invention has been described above with reference to anexample according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that theinvention is not restricted thereto but it can be modified in severalways within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method for delivering messages in a communications network, themethod comprising: receiving information relating to predeterminedmetering data associated with successful message delivery; conveying theinformation relating to predetermined metering data associated withsuccessful message delivery to a metering data analyzing system of thecommunications network; and receiving message delivery information fromthe communications network.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theinformation relating to predetermined metering data comprisesinformation on agreed expenses of a message delivery or amount of moneypaid for the message delivery.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein themetering data analyzing system is a billing system used by an operatorof the communications network.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein themessage delivery information comprises information on a number ofsuccessfully delivered messages.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein themessage delivery information is produced in real-time, in selected timeintervals, or after message delivery campaign is at least partly over.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising conveying the messagedelivery information to an element producing message delivery reports.7. The method of claim 6, wherein the message delivery reports compriseinformation on successfully delivered advertising campaign messages. 8.The method of claim 1, further comprising collecting information onoccupiers of subscriber connections for making message delivery plans.9. The method of claim 8, further comprising applying selective pricingpolicy per each delivered message, the pricing policy being based on theusage of consumer profiles provided by using collected subscriberconnection occupier information.
 10. The method of claim 1,characterized by further comprising: receiving information on a messageto be delivered in the communications network; conveying to thecommunications network the information on the message to be delivered;and generating message delivery reports.
 11. A control unit for messagedelivery in a communications network, the control unit comprising: meansfor receiving information relating to predetermined metering dataassociated with successful message delivery; means for conveying theinformation relating to predetermined metering data associated withsuccessful message delivery to a metering data analyzing system of thecommunications network; and means for receiving message deliveryinformation from the communications network.
 12. The control unit ofclaim 11, wherein the information relating to predetermined meteringdata comprises information on agreed expenses of message delivery oramount of money paid for the message delivery.
 13. The control unit ofclaim 11, wherein the metering data analyzing system is a billing systeman used by operator of the communications network for billing.
 14. Thecontrol unit of claim 11, wherein the message delivery informationcomprises information on number of successfully delivered messages. 15.The control unit of claim 11, further comprising means for producingmessage delivery information in real-time, in selected time intervals orafter a message delivery campaign is at least partly over.
 16. Thecontrol unit of claim 11, further comprising means for conveying themessage delivery information to an element producing message deliveryreports.
 17. The control unit of claim 16, wherein the message deliveryreports comprises information on successfully delivered advertisingcampaign messages.
 18. The control unit of claim 11, further comprisingmeans for collecting information on occupiers of subscriber connectionsfor making message delivery plans.
 19. The control unit of claim 18,further comprising means for applying selective pricing policy per eachdelivered message, the pricing policy being based on the usage ofconsumer profiles provided using collected subscriber connectionoccupier information.
 20. The control unit of claim 11, further: meansfor receiving information on a message to be delivered in thecommunications network; means for conveying to the communicationsnetwork the information on the message to be delivered; and means forgenerating message delivery reports.